Author
Topic: CM Closing (POSTPONED) (Read 5117 times)

Yea he completely understand the reasoning behind it Cal. I have witnessed many people grow here, but as for myself I have only a short period of time of growth, although I wouldnít be where Iím at today without CM, after a while I did begin to feel inadequate seeing so many people improve fast and me getting stuck, itís pretty discouraging. Donít think thatís the forumís fault necessarily but I definitely could have used a lot more encouragement, help and critique in the last couple of years and itís kida why I partially disappeared from here tbh and havenít posted much art here. Itís also the reason I stopped streaming or visiting other peopleís streams.

@Foreign GridI don't know that we really disagree, because I don't find anything you've said to be objectionable. I've just put emphasis on one thing, while you've put emphasis on another.

Speaking of Tolkien... I'm really coming to love Tolkien, even more than I did in high school. If you have time, check this out. You can listen while doing art or something. I'm sharing this with as many Tolkien nuts as I can (that's how Tolkien regarded his fans, as nuts). There are other Tolkien things I can show you, if you want.

Utopia -- a play on words. Eu-topia (good place) and ou-topia (no place). A good place that doesn't exist, which you no doubt already knew. I remember enjoying More's work. I enjoyed Voltaire a little more, mainly because of Pangloss in Candide. Pangloss (All-Talk) seems like a good example of what to avoid intellectually.

Sometimes this happens =v=

Ooooo yes~ I listened to that book last year. Good choice! (Ill have to listen to it again though now that you remind me of it ^^) A few other Cmers might have fond/not so fond memories of me commenting on that book while I was listening to it in a group chat (sorry guys)

Lol we are Nuts XD

Ill have to read Voltaire o3o Never got around to him~

Thanks a bunch though for the recommendations!

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"If I'm going up to heaven I'm taking you all up with me! *roars*" -FG 2017Science!

Thank you, Ink, for all the patience and long suffering you've had over the years. It's not easy to run a big project like this, especially when it's not quite going the way you envisioned it. That being said, it makes me encouraged that you do still have plans for the site and are not just dropping it all together, which can be a tempting thing to do. After going through the experiences of forums losing their purpose and dying out, I know that it's quite hard to not just say "forget it." and drop everything.

Not that I have much room to talk, to be perfectly honest, as I've never been around. I'm pretty sure most people here are probably thinking, "Who the heck is this person talking like they know stuff?" Or not, who knows. ^_^ I've expressed it before, and I'll stand by it, CM is full of some of the most accepting and sweetest people I've ever seen grace an internet forum. That is definitely thanks to too many people to name, but it did start with the supportive and upbeat environment Ink created here.

Though, regardless of whether it accomplished the purpose you intended it for originally, God has definitely blessed this site and forum and I pray He will continue to bless you all wherever He leads you.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. -Proverbs 3:5-6

Who could forget goldy, the human ray of sunshine? I remember you best from caa tbh I'd like to apologize for not really offering anything to the site myself I don't really have any of the things I need to be posting art but the big thing is I'm very lazy. I just offered to the goof off crowd, but this place has been a great experience and everyone here always gives support where it's due. I do think we maybe leaned a little too nice with art sometimes? As in very little criticism period, but I'm callin the kettle black.

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"What have I to show except, the promises I never kept" - artist in the ambulance by Thrice.

Hi ya'll! Man... so nostalgic to see all us old peeps back on the forum. I've been thinking some thoughts and would like to properly say farewell to the source of the most growth in my life. I want to preface by saying that I completely understand and respect the decision to close down the forum aspect of CM - it's a huge responsibility and financial drain. Plus, now that there are so many ways of keeping in touch outside of CM forums, maybe it's not really necessary anymore. But after reading Calbach's post in particular, I want to encourage you that it hasn't all been in vain.

I want to bring this to everyoneís attention, because I feel it was totally missed or ignored. I say this because Inkís put a ton of time and hard work into this place. Sheís tried to make it flourish into a place where Christian artists and mangaka would be able to come and grow, spiritually and artistically. Some people have come here and done just that, yes, but the majority of the forum has been used for things other than her original plan. Whether itís just chatting, goofing off, playing games, etc, I feel like the people of CM, while being respectful to administration in words, have done this: They havenít stayed on topic with the mission statement. ďThe focus of our forum is to train young artists and writers the best we can to make the most of their God-given abilities for His glory.Ē

Sadly, CM doesnít really have any success stories to make it feel like the time, money and physical/emotional effort was well-spent.

I haven't been around CM in a long time, but when I was still active, you're right. We were a bunch of teenagers and few of us had the commitment, confidence or maturity to create full comics. We're still growing. (tho some of us /did/ use CM to jumpstart creating full comics *looks pointedly towards Red*)

God worked mightily through CM, but maybe not in the way you wanted to see Him working. Again, I haven't been around the last couple years or so, so I'm not sure how the current community functions. Even still, the perspective you've shared just now seems a bit harsh to members and hardly holistic.

You said there were no success stories from CM. Well, it's success story time. Though perhaps not exactly the kind of success you intended.

In 2011, when I was 14 years old, CM was the first online community that I joined. I grew up in abject poverty, living in a motorhome with a leaking roof, not even knowing what a toaster was. When it got really bad, my mom would tell me that she didn't know if we'd have enough food to eat next week. I was raised as an only child, homeschooled in an incredibly unhealthy, though Christian, family environment. Before I joined CM, my closest friends were my dogs. I was incredibly depressed and bitter to the point of rejecting God's love entirely. My mental state manifested in an eating disorder. I wanted to die. I couldn't even bear to have people touching me. I was /messed up/, man. Not the kind of healthy person you'd wanna be friends with.

But in the CM chatroom... my voice was heard and valued in a way I had never experienced before. Maybe it was just games and goofing off to you guys. I was 14. But to me... it gave me a sliver of hope. That sliver grew bigger and bigger as I began to form relationships - especially with Red. I became slowly but surely less bitter towards God - maybe it was ok to be alive after all, I thought. I made so many friendships here that helped me grow and look towards God rather than the more comfortable pit of apathy and depression that I was so used to. I still pray for you guys.

Not only did I begin to develop real, deep relationships, but I began to draw. Art was hard. I learned how to fail - possibly the most important lesson I have ever learned in my life. I learned how to take criticism from someone besides my parents. And I got to see my art improve after failure and critique. This is the real power of humility. All humans are made in the image of God, who we know well is a Creator. As I engaged more and more with my creativity in His likeness, I began to feel more and more human.

As I felt more motivated to create and learned how to form other human friendships, I grew more motivated to learn Japanese. I really wanted to understand anime and all the vocaloid music I was into.

At 16, I graduated high school. (because homeschooled.) Red and I met in real life for the first time when she flew out to visit me and my parents in California for a couple weeks. It was a terrifying, surreal experience and it was amazing. this was HUGE. AND SOMEHOW SHE STILL LIKED ME EVEN AFTER SHE MET ME IRL. like whaaaaaaaat. A year later, I flew to visit her and her family in New Hampshire for a few weeks. It was amazing, and I was so confused but glad to witness the way her family worked in contrast to mine.

A couple months after I returned to CA from staying with Red... My family and I lost our home and our job within the same week. We lost the dogs too - the only thing that had kept me sane. We stayed in a little Motel 6 for a few weeks until we could figure out where to go. My parents couldn't afford to take care of me any longer. I was 17. They separated soon after and are still separated to this day.

Red's family offered to take me in and I fly back to New Hampshire to live with them for a year before going to university. I never expected to go to university - I had no money to do so. But God does miraculous things, and through some strange circumstances, I ended up going to the same university as Red. (since then I've been totally inactive on CM because... well... college life is rough, man. good, but rough.)

Now, I'm in my junior year as an honors student and a leader. God has surrounded me with an incredible and supportive community here and I find myself constantly in the hard yet worthy process of learning to love people and God well.

Remember how I said I was studying Japanese? Well... after I entered college, I started to connect with the Japanese Christian community here. I go to a Japanese church and am the president of the Japanese culture and ministry club (and also teach beginner Japanese there). I've gotten to witness several of my Japanese friends become Christians here and see how God is working through them and in them. Their thirst to know and love God more inspires and encourages me so much.

God even gave me the opportunity to go to Japan for free this summer for 2 and a half months to teach English for an internship. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done... but oh, oh so worth it. I've been able to share the gospel and answer questions in Japanese, and am daily studying to attain a level of fluency where I can live, work, and minister in Japan after graduation.

Guys. I don't know if I would be alive without CM. I would not have learned the confidence or humility necessary to be where I am today without the lessons I learned here at CM. I would not be able to love God or myself as His creation in the way that I do without the hope that you all provided me. I wouldn't have had a home. I wouldn't have attended university at all.I wouldn't have met the dear friends I have here, or connected with my Japanese church.I wouldn't have gone to Japan and realized God's calling to me as a missionary.I wouldn't be able to share the Gospel with my Japanese friends.I wouldn't be able to "make the most of (my) God-given abilities for His glory.ĒI wouldn't be able to take my experiences and use them to tell vivid stories through art and writing.

CM is the source of so much good in my life and I know only God could have come up with such a crazy plan to use a forum of otaku(sorry guys, but let's be real)to draw me to Him.

This is just my story, but I know several other such stories.I tell you all this not to discourage the closing of CM... but to encourage you. It was worth the time, effort and money. I know that God sees what you've done through CM and worked through your efforts even if they didn't seem very rewarding at the time.

Well done, good and faithful servants, stewards of what God gave you. You have served your younger brothers and sisters in Christ well. Please don't ever look back on this as a waste, or as a community that was only "just chatting, goofing off" etc.

If anyone wants to stay in touch:Tumblr and Instagram - wolfiegakakitaiLINE - medianox4

@WolfieYou have an incredible story -- and one of the most incredible things is how Red's family grafted you onto theirs. We, and I speak generally, so underestimate the value of friendship. I consider it of even greater value than things like romance (which I consider to be of little value anyway, but I digress). So hang on to your friend.

And to everyone else -- this is exactly why I don't think CM was a waste, because of stories like hers. Whatever happens going forward, I don't want us to go away thinking it was all for nothing.

I donít really want to get into much detail (mostly because itís a lot to write and I just donít feel like sharing it all), but hereís a quick rundown I guess?

If you look at my art when I first started here you can see how much Iíve improved.. I worked on a comic for a while, but decided that it wasnít my path to follow. I still do art sometimes for fun, but Iíve chosen worship over art. (Though I may or may not have a secret project Iíve been working on and off on.) However, I donít feel that it was a waste in that aspect. If nothing else, at least now I know I donít want to do art as a career.

Mostly what I got out of CM was friendships. As I was also homeschooled, I grew up without many friends. When I joined, I did have some friends from my church, but not any deep connections. I never really had friends that I felt wanted to talk to me and were supportive. Through streams and personal messages, I felt like I met people that actually cared about me.

During my time away from CM (kinda anyway), I havenít really mentioned it on CM, but.. the ďschool of ministryĒ I was attending.. was awful. I really donít feel like talking about everything that I hated about it, but basically I was struggling to keep myself on fire for God, let alone.. you know.. alive. Luckily I got out of there, but I was there for a while.. and the only thing keeping me from completely giving up was some certain friends I met from here.

I havenít been active much here since, but basically, after that whole.. experience.. my flame had been pretty blown out. However, I wouldnít give up. In the past few months Iíve finally rekindled that flame. Ironically, I went to another ďschool of ministryĒ, but this one is much different. There I discovered my call to worship. I graduated from that, but now Iím a facilitator there for the time being. Iím planning to get a degree in music in worship.

So basically, without CM I wouldnít have improved my art,Wouldnít have felt like I had real friends,Might not even be alive,Might not have pursued God as much as I need to, And wouldnít have met the love of my life (well God works things out so I guess we probably would have met, but like.. it wouldíve been harder and stuff)

Basically ...ditto. While I agree there wasn't as much structured art interactions and spiritual support as one would like, there was still a TON of work and support being done here at CM.

I've been here pretty long and I've seen the community change and grow. Depending on the current members, sometimes it's been more serious and structured and sometimes it's been very loose and goofy. Yet all these times were used in a very, very powerful way by God. As you can see, I'm not the only one with a story.

I don't have a story so dramatic as some of our other amazing members here, but all the same, it's a very important story for me. I first came to CM as a super weeb not knowing the first thing about friends or how to art or being part of a community. The only "real life" friends I had turned out to be anything but, so I had become very tired of people in general. However, I wandered into CM and was met with GENUINE people. It was literally life-changing. CM and its members have shown me what community was like. Ink and the other "big time" artists supported my mega newbie art and encouraged me to grow. In doing so, I learned not only more about art but more about how to mentor and encourage others. Not only has CM shown me how to be part of a community, but the people I've met here have changed my life SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much. I cannot even express the impact.

Wolf, who as you now know, has become a huge part of my life. We introduce each other as "this is my sister, ___". It's been an honor to see her grow so much and to grow with her. She's an amazing support and a great friend.

Obviously, Forge has become a huge part of my life too. Through streams and random messages, we got to become friends online and be supportive of each other's comics during late night streams. Long story short, we had the opportunity to meet in real life on a few occasions and now we live pretty close because of my University. And also now we've been dating for over 2 years and it's grown me so much and I'm so glad for it.

Man, I so want to list everyone on CM here.... Hota, Danica, Alpha, Nazo, Rig, Kitsu, like.... SO MANY AMAZING PEOPLE. Everyone has taught me how to love, how to grow, and how to be part of God's family. CM is, and will forever be in my mind, my home.

TL;DR:CM, and the work Ink, Mel, Cal, and the CM community have put forth, has been used in amazingly powerful ways by God, even if not apparent from the chitchat seen on the surface. (And I know for sure these aren't the only stories) You all have literally changed lives.

I really don't have many words for this. It's left me a bit speechless. I feel like I could argue many points, but that would be selfish. So I'll keep those broken feelings to myself and properly express my gratitude.

CM as a whole has changed my life. And many times kept me from destroying it. I wouldn't be the same person if not for all of you. Especially Ink and Cal, but countless others also. My apologies for not mentioning more individually. So in the midst of this hard decision I hope you understand that you will forever have my unwavering friendship and support. And if any of you ever need anything, please come seek me out. The purpose that you sought to achieve through CM, in many ways, was done in my heart also. And I hope, my dearest CM admins, that you can look back on this time and the testimonies shared and know what a powerful and wonderful ministry you have done, and know that it was worth the sacrifices you had to make.

God truly makes all things beautiful in His time, and there is a time for everything. Thank you for the time that I was able and blessed to share here. It was always a delight.

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"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Jim Elliot

I haven't been active lately because ever since youtube has taken off, I have been extremely busy.But man, am I gonna miss this place. So many of you guys are so loving and cool.Every time I posted a prayer request here, I know the power of prayer helped a lot.God really moved in this website. I respect your decision a lot.I just wanted to pop in to tell you how much I appreciated this place and how amazing it is. I have an idea if you'd like to hear about it. There's this amino app where you make a group and such. Completely for free. Thinking, maybe, I can make a group on there? If any other members want to come help plan it...Can reach me on instagram @yenniefer or deviantart (Faithwalkers).I'd love to stay connected with you all in some shape or form since this place is awesome and I do regret that I wish I was more active on here. I'm more active on apps, sadly.. ;w; God bless you all.(And if I don't reply in time, I'll try reading responses on here when I can. If I don't respond fast enough if it's regarding the amino group app, message on the other social medias I've provided.)

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We're a soon to be wedded in holy Matrimony artists working together for God on our ministry, FaithWalkers!Yennie Fer and AirWin are the current team members.

I was trying looking up Forge in the memberlist, and I couldn't find him ("Forge? Who's Forge?!") -- then I realized it was FreakForGod -- "Forge, The Melon Lord." That's like "Gwyn, Lord of Cinder." (You could be in Dark Souls.)

I don't have a big story about how CM saved my life -- just smaller stories I've been posting in the other thread, little things I liked about this place. If you want to know my story, though, or my story thus far...

I read and did all the things Christians kids are supposed to do in college, except I wasn't a ministry major. I studied humanities. Nevertheless, theology and church history were a big part of my studies (if not in my classes, then just on my own). It was fascinating, and besides, I was looking for answers. Not to fight with atheists, although I did sometimes. Mostly, I was curious for myself. I loved the things of God, even though I had a love-hate relationship with God (and still do).

After a senior year wracked with near-suicidal depression, things didn't work out for me. I just fell apart. I did things I wasn't proud of -- petty crime, substance abuse, loafing around at home. Stuff I haven't talked about. I'm over that in the sense of not doing those things anymore, but in a way, I'm still trying to recover from those nine months after college. It messed with me bad, and I'm still not the person I was before then. Even been scared to go back to church (though I've been a few times).

So what am I doing now? Basic employment. Building a body of work. Buying Bitcoin. And even though I'm largely past where I was nine months after college, I'm still not the person I should have been by now. So what does this have to do with CM? Not much -- except it was one of the few things I still enjoyed during that time, even if I wasn't all the way "here." I'm grateful for the friends. I'm glad we're connected via the Internet. I'm glad we don't have to "leave" each other once the forum shuts down. You people are awesome.

Man! I don't really know what to say. I know I haven't been active here in forever (even though I started off as one of the more active members). I guess lately I've been busy with my full time job and have been working through trying to figure out what God means to me personally and his place in my life (long story, kind of had a falling out with church). In the end though, I'm truly blessed to have been a part of CM. After all it was where I met my husband, Josh (Krusader), and where I had my first Demon Battles fans. I know I haven't been the most easy person to deal with, I've been moody at times and had a lot of self doubt, but I eventually learned to push past that self doubt and accept critique and to allow myself to improve (I was a stubborn one and set in my ways), all thanks to you guys. I don't think I would have improved without your support. And I'm sorry I wasn't more encourage and provided more critique as I should have. I guess I wasn't confident enough in my work to feel like I had any right to offer critique for the longest time.

Also, Red gave me my first drawing tablet, which has been an amazing blessing and has helped me improve in my artwork and to do so much more with my art than I was able to do with traditional medium. Even though I went to school for traditional art, turn out I was a natural at digital medium. Who knew! I know I haven't worked on DB in a while, but that's because in the end I realized it needed a huge overhaul (that, and I don't have as much time for it with working 1:30pm-10:00pm, Tuesday-Saturday), but I'm working on a light novel series that would be easier to make time for since I type faster than I draw. It's a lot different than DB and I'm not sure how people are going to respond to it, but I felt like with it being a coming of age story set in a post apocalyptic world, it would be better for me to write as I'm going through this period of self discovery and figuring out where God fits in my life (after all it is about finding your place in the world and strength during the trying times, with some humor thrown in). Hopefully if it takes off, I could quit my day job (more like night job, but you know what I mean). Once I'm making money solely off my works, I would definitely start producing Demon Battles. In the mean time, I have actually been developing the story and working on concept work.

And also I discovered CM when I first started college. It was a difficult time for me and I had no friends since all my friends from high school moved on. I was extremely lonely, but I found friends and liked minded peeps on here. You guys and this site had brought joy to my life in one of the darkest times in my life, and for that I am grateful.

I know this site hasn't quite done what it was meant to do, but it has done a lot of good for it's members on here. Thank you so much Ink, Cal, and Melmak! I do understand your reasoning for closing the site, especially as someone who has drifted away over the years, but I just wanted to let you know your efforts weren't in vain.

Much love to you guys! All of you!

Also, if you want to keep in touch, I'm still active on deviantart: gabby413.deviantart.com.